Dead Fingers
by A Bullfrog's Worst Nightmare
Summary: AU fic, slight slash. He was always going to play an important role in his quest for control. Always


**A/N: This is written for Round 3 of the Speed of Lightning challenge. The challenge was to write an AU fic so I chose to write one where Dumbledore and Grindlewald "switch roles", I guess you could say. It also contains slight slash. Hope you enjoy!**

****_Dead Fingers_

A girl, no older than fourteen, laid limp in the large wooden coffin. Her eyelids had turned slightly purple and she was so pale she looked almost transparent. Her blonde hair was a tangled mess, stray pieces covering her cold face. She should have never died. No one ever saw her murderer as the type of person to do such a thing.

Albus Dumbledore killed his sister.

He sat rigid in his seat in front of the coffin, staring blankly at the dead girl in front of him. His friend Gellert Grindlewald sat next to him, with an equally blank expression. Though his was out of fear and shock.

It was wrong. Killing little girls was not for the greater good.

Their previous conversation that happened right after her death was still echoing in Gellert's head.

_"Why did you do it, Albus?"_

_ "She had no place here anymore."_

Ariana Dumbledore was slowly lowered into the hole that had been carved out of the damp earth. Last kind words were said and soon she was covered. She was gone and her brother felt no remorse.

The two young men walked together, side by side, along the dirt path that led out of the cemetery. Neither of them spoke to the other for a long time before Gellert broke the silence.

"I can't do this anymore, Albus. I can't watch innocent people die," he said, grabbing Albus' arm to keep him from walking away.

"Sacrifices have to made for the new order, Gellert. This is all for the greater good. You'll understand one day," Albus responded with a ghost of a smile.

He brushed Gellert's hand off his arm and continued walking along the path. Gellert didn't follow him. His feet were frozen to the ground and he was left with nothing but the crows for company. Their caws coming from the thin, dark trees and the image of Albus walking away was an incredibly haunting image.

Gellert lost track of how long it had been since he last spoke to Albus. He's seen him, they live in the same run down shack, after all. They just seem to stare at each other for a moment but then carry on with what they were doing.

The short glimpses of Albus were few and far between anyway for Gellert. He spends all his time up in his room. Most the time it's dead silent, but occasionally a ground shaking noise would come from within the room and startle Gellert. He must be experimenting with spells again.

It was currently dark outside, and Gellert was dosing off at the poor excuse for a table the two men kept in their makeshift kitchen. The flame from the candle he had lit made his face glow and casted dancing shadows on the wall in front of him.

"Gellert," said a voice behind him. It was so quiet, it took a couple of seconds for Gellert to register the fact that his name had been called.

"Albus," he responded, raising his heavy head off the table and turned to look at his friend.

Albus had dark purple circles under his eyes and he was almost as pale as his dead sister was after he killed her. If Gellert didn't know any better he would've said that Albus looked somewhat defeated.

"Are you going to leave?" Albus asked, he placed both of his hands on Gellert's shoulders and began to slightly massage them.

"You can't kill non-magic folk for no reason," he responded. His eyes were closed and his head leaned back. It was getting harder to focus with Albus touching him.

"They've done nothing for me. The world would be better off without them." Albus began to trail his fingers down Gellert's arms, leaving goose bumps in their wake.

Gellert brushed Albus off and was on his feet now, staring at him right in his clear blue eyes. There was a small smirk on Albus' face as he reached out and placed a gentle hand on the other man's waist. Gellert's breath was caught in his throat when he felt his shirt being lifted up and Albus tracing small patterns on his bare skin with his cold, long fingers.

He didn't even realize that his chest was now pressed up against his friend's. It didn't matter that Gellert was angry with Albus, he still longed to just lean in and press his lips against his. But he didn't, he couldn't.

Sometime between Albus' hands resting on his ass and his lips grazing the side of his neck, Gellert came to his senses and roughly shoved Albus away. His friend raised a single, slim eyebrow at him and looked confused by the gesture.

"I'm not kissing a murderer," Gellert said and moved past him towards the front door.

The door was weak and with amount of force Gellert used to open it, it was surprising it didn't fly off the hinges. It was pouring down rain outside and Gellert stomped through the thick mud without ever looking back at the shack.

He never looked back to see if Albus was watching or if he chased after him. He kept walking until he literally almost passed out on the side of the road. Gellert's legs gave way and he landed hard on the sticky, wet ground. His entire body was covered in grime and he never felt more alone and weak in his entire life.

But that…that was a long time ago.

Gellert never went looking for Albus. Instead he sits in his office as a headmaster at Hogwarts, waiting for Albus to come to him. He will one day, he has to.

He twirled the long, skinny wand in between his fingers. A wand that Albus needs if he ever wants to obtain the three Deathly Hallows. A wand that he's going to have to pry from Gellert's cold, dead hands if he ever hopes to have it.

He's waiting for him.


End file.
